You may think you're in the clear for communicating if you're visiting another English-speaking country, but think again. Certain words could cause you embarrassment across the pond or down under. Avoid words like "pants" (it means "underwear" in the U.K.), "fanny" (slang for a part of the female anatomy, and we're not talking about the rear end), and "pissed" (hint: to the Brits and Irish, it doesn't mean you're angry).
Patrick Gray works for a global Fortune 500 consulting and IT services company and is the author of Breakthrough IT: Supercharging Organizational Value through Technology as well as the companion e-book The Breakthrough CIO's Companion. He has spent over a decade providing strategy consulting services to Fortune 500 and 1000 companies. Patrick can be reached at patrick.gray@prevoyancegroup.com, and you can follow his blog at www.itbswatch.com. All opinions are his and may not represent those of his employer.
Don't take a sleeping bag unless you're actually going camping. They're useless. Most hostels won't even let you use them. Don't pack too many clothes – remember, you'll buy things while you travel. Don't take a huge first aid kit. You really just need a few necessities. Don't take more than three pairs of shoes. Don't take more than two pairs of jeans. But do take soap – most hostels don't supply it.
"There's nothing more annoying than struggling to stuff everything back into your suitcase at the end of a trip only to realize you didn't even wear half the clothes you brought. That's why I started strictly packing by outfit — not individual item — and only letting pieces I had a plan for make the cut. I'll take a skirt only if I know I'm bringing a top and shoes that I would wear with it, and I'll think about the activities on my itinerary and what I see myself wearing while doing them. I hate checking a bag but love clothes, so being realistic and planning ahead is key." — Nina Ruggiero, Senior Digital Editor
Business travel can often be avoided altogether by using available technologies- Skype, Go2Meeting, instant messaging, and conference calling (available for free from a variety of services), saving money and the environment. When travel is required, make the most of it by adding a marketing & education component to each trip - attend a conference, participate in a trade show, or connect with a potential client.
To find out some of the best ways to deal with this less than glamorous side of travel, we chatted with international flight attendant and HuffPost blogger David Puzzo, as well as former flight attendant and author Abbie Unger. As the owner of Flight Attendant Career Connection, Unger offers support to professional and aspiring flight attendants, and has learned that the best way to combat jet lag depends on knowing your body.

Now that we’ve rounded up the top business class travel tips, we can walk through some pros and cons of some of the best business class service out there. We’ve flown each of the Middle East Three airlines (Qatar, Etihad, and Emirates) and other international airlines. They each tend to offer more than the typical American business class experience on the legacy carriers. And, in many cases, the business class flight cost is even less on international carriers than the American legacy carriers. The non-American airlines also allow one-way business class flights more often.

Any recommendations of fun things to see and do in Boston?? And yes, this is an excessive list, but I like to think of EVERY. SINGLE. THING. I could possibly need when planning for a trip. I will be weeding out the unnecessary things as I fit it into my suitcase 😬 . . . . . #bujo #bujolove #showmeyourplanner #bulletjournal #bujojunkies #bujocommunity #journal #bulletjournaljunkies #journalersofinstagram #bujoweekly #bujoaddict #happyplanner #planneraddict #bulletjournalinspiration #bujoinspiration #bulletjournallove #bulletjournaladdict #bulletjournalcommunity #habittracker #bujomonthly #bujospread #plannergirl #lettering #handlettering #handlettered #travel #packing #vacation #boston #summer On overnight business trips, ditching the checked luggage and making the most of your carry-ons means less time spent waiting for baggage. For longer trips, minimize your luggage needs by packing two or three neutral coloured pants or skirts and a variety of tops to create a new look each day. Since you'll need to remove them for airport security, storing laptops in accessible travel bags helps speed things along, and packing both a plug-in charger and a battery-operated one ensures you'll have enough power to finish your presentation on the road. Lightweight and durable hard-sided luggage stands up to the use of frequent travellers. For occasional travel, consider affordable, stylish soft-sided luggage with an expandable compartment to hold souvenirs from your trip.
Hello 👋 How is it June already? This means we’re now onto the sixth #CocosTeaPartyBookClub pick of 2018. I can’t quite believe it… • Anyway, this month’s title is ‘Becoming: Sex, Second Chances, and Figuring Out Who the Hell I am’ by Laura Jane Williams (@superlativelylj). Although this memoir was released in 2016 it’s only just come into my life. Over the last two months at least four friends have suggested I read ‘Becoming’. And then, in a strange twist of fate, I actually met Laura last week and was totally charmed by her warm personality and fabulous sense of humour. • In ‘Becoming’ Laura writes about how she rebuilt herself after suffering a truly devastating heartbreak. Here’s a brief little synopsis: Laura’s longterm boyfriend (the man she thought she’d marry) dumps her and runs off to marry her friend. In her heartbreak, Laura falls into a dark pattern of drinking too much and sleeping around, before eventually taking a year-long vow of celibacy to put the pieces of her heart back together. • It’s a really honest and human portrayal of heartbreak – yet somehow manages so be laugh-out-loud funny too! If you didn’t read ‘Becoming’ when it was first released I definitely recommend picking up a copy asap. And Laura’s second book, ‘Ice Cream for Breakfast’, comes out in paperback next week. I can’t wait to delve into that next🍦 Are you already a big fan of Laura Jane Williams’ writing? #bookclub #bookstagram
Never forget to pack multiple power banks/portable phone chargers when traveling for business. Low battery anxiety is real—there’s even a name for it: Nomophobia (Google it!). Please note: low battery anxiety is exacerbated when traveling. There is no reason to land at your destination on 10 percent phone power. As a businessperson, I cannot afford to lose my connection to my customers, social media, email, the outside world. Even a small power bank solves the problem and eliminates unnecessary stress.

Even if you don't normally use lip balm, it can still be an important item to pack. Breathing dry airplane air, being out in the sun, eating salty foods in transit—travel inevitably leads to mild dehydration and chapped lips. And there's something off-putting and vaguely predatory about constantly licking your lips. Lip balm can also be used to tame frizzy hair ends, soothe dry cuticles, protect skin from windburn, and even unstick a stubborn zipper.

Now that we’ve rounded up the top business class travel tips, we can walk through some pros and cons of some of the best business class service out there. We’ve flown each of the Middle East Three airlines (Qatar, Etihad, and Emirates) and other international airlines. They each tend to offer more than the typical American business class experience on the legacy carriers. And, in many cases, the business class flight cost is even less on international carriers than the American legacy carriers. The non-American airlines also allow one-way business class flights more often.
Traveling is a fun activity but doing it repeatedly can eventually tire a traveler down. Because of this, many frequent travelers have realized the importance of preparing luggage that allows one to carry necessary travel items without compromising comfort. Much of the challenges come from identifying the trip, choosing and prioritizing the items that will be brought according to the trip, and finding the right packing technique to ensure that the luggage that will accompany the traveler will not cause any discomfort.
Decades ago, before the Internet, one of the standard tips for travelers visiting Europe went this way: If you find you need to rent a car after you arrive in Europe, don't pay the high local rates. Instead, call the rental-car company's U.S. office and rent at the much lower rate quoted to U.S. travelers. Surprisingly, this recommendation is still valid. Book your car rental from a U.S. website to pay about half the local quote.
3. Always keep an energy bar in your carry-on bag. During one seven-hour delay I experienced in Miami, the airport vendors had literally sold out of food. If it’s a winter blizzard or a massive string of delays, you may be out of luck. Prepare in advance by keeping an energy bar in your bag so you’re always ready in case disaster strikes. Pro tip: At the grocery store buy your favorite kind in bulk -- they often sell them in boxes of 12 or more.
Not using a money belt is not great advice. Not showing you have a money belt is. I was express kidnapped in Peru by a fake taxi, robbed at night on a train in India and was pick pocketed in the Philippines. I had an additional incident in Peru with a mugger who slammed into us at tried to snatch and grab one of my two companion’s bag. I carry several extra credit cards, a second cell phone and my passport and hundreds of dollars in backup cash when traveling, which I keep in pockets that are going to require my cooperation for a thief to access. I keep cash and my preferred credit card in separate pockets in my outer garments, and figure that whatever is there has to be of low enough value that it is expendable in the event of criminal action. Amazon has packs of 20 zipper pocket pouches that can be sewn into clothing. In addition to shooting pictures of the serial numbers of my phones and cameras, I email photos of my birth certificate, passport, passport photo, driver’s license, and credit cards (front and back). Plan on being robbed at some point. If you travel long enough, it is going to happen. I live near Khao San Road, and just going to the market is an opportunity for a smash and grab or a sleuthy pick pocketing. I plan accordingly, and use money belts for my passport and Departure Card as well as secondary credit card and emergency cash. Having been to emergency rooms twice in Thailand and Vietnam once, it is necessary to have several hundred dollars worth of cash on hand for emergencies. ATMs and bank balances are nice, but can be pretty worthless if you are not in a major city when fortunes change for the worse.
Really awesome photos as always. Dave and Deb, my girlfriend and i we love your life style. You guys really inspire us. Thanks to you we have been traveling asia for 6 months. To be honest i was thinking its really bad idea to travel with your GF but after all experiences, this is the best way for traveling. Thanks for the whole site and this valuable tips.
My annual business travel averages more than 100 hotel nights and 50 one-way flight segments. This travel is entirely for face-to-face sales meetings, which are notorious for being canceled, rescheduled, forgotten and so on. So, I follow three concrete rules when planning and setting business trip meetings. First, emphasize you are traveling from out of state for the meeting to establish it is not canceled or rescheduled easily. Second, send the calendar invitation for the meeting while you are still on the phone with the prospect. Lastly, if the calendar invitation is not accepted, I will assume the meeting is off until it is reconfirmed on the phone and accepted.
One other scenario: you have plenty of time, but know that your flight is nearly full, and the line is long. Every minute you spend in line is another minute that the window and aisle seats are given away. If you check in with the skycap, then sprint to the gate for your seat assignment, you’ll often find that the line at the gate is much shorter than at check-in, and you’ll actually get your seat assignment more quickly. This is the best way to build your travel confidence and is especially easy in Southeast Asia. There are many benefits to it, too: you’ll get to discover cool places that aren’t listed online or in the guidebooks, you’ll be able to look at the rooms before you commit to staying, you can negotiate on price, and you’re not tied to a specific schedule where you need to be somewhere because you’ve booked your accommodation already.

If you have lots of different types of activities you plan to do, that means you have a fair amount of gear you need to pack into your suitcase. Keeping everything organized can be a challenge. One of the best things you can do when you're packing for any trip, especially one that requires you to pack lots of layers, is to make sure you use packing organizers.

When I decided to see if it was possible to visit the Maldives on a budget, information was so sparse that I couldn’t even find a photo of the islands I’d decided to visit. Well, that trip was one of my highlights of the past seven years and I’m so glad I went, despite not being able to find any information online. And the advantage to that lack of information was getting to be the only tourist on an entire island — I had the whole beach to myself!

Business travel can often be avoided altogether by using available technologies- Skype, Go2Meeting, instant messaging, and conference calling (available for free from a variety of services), saving money and the environment. When travel is required, make the most of it by adding a marketing & education component to each trip - attend a conference, participate in a trade show, or connect with a potential client.

If you have lots of different types of activities you plan to do, that means you have a fair amount of gear you need to pack into your suitcase. Keeping everything organized can be a challenge. One of the best things you can do when you're packing for any trip, especially one that requires you to pack lots of layers, is to make sure you use packing organizers.
Put your toiletries in a plastic bag inside your laptop case, since those need to come out during security, anyway. Forget about bringing running gear along. It takes too much space in your bag, you will not have the time to go running anyway and chances are, it will make your fresh shirts smell of old trainers. Instead, bring a bathing suit and hop in the hotel pool.

No-where did we find this more frustrating than in Cambodia. Like a lot of countries, Cambodia is quite cheap to travel when compared to Western countries, but are they still largely dependent on using the US Dollar, with the Riel only used for very small transactions. However, all the ATMs seem to be loaded with $100 bills, and don’t charge a % fee, they charge by transaction! This means it makes sense to get larger sums out, to avoid being charged multiple transaction fees.

Outdoor public bathing in warm pools is a deep rooted Icelandic tradition, dating back to the Viking days of original settlement. In Iceland, public bathing is much more than a mere pastime activity; Icelandic pools and public baths are community centres where people of all ages and professions gather to catch up with friends, relax after a hard day of work, or to recover from a long night of excessive indulgence.
It's great to have a guidebook, something to point you in the right direction and give you background information on the places you're visiting. The mistake first-time travellers make, however, is only doing things listed in the guidebook – only visiting the restaurants, staying in the hostels and visiting the attractions that get the guidebook's stamp of approval. There's more to the world than the bits listed in those pages. It’s good to have a budget to stick to, but most people tend to go over. Start saving as soon as possible (like, now) and aim to bring more money than you think you’ll need. The more money you have, the more you’ll be able to treat yourself to nicer accommodation, splurge on fun tours, and not spend your entire trip worrying that you’ll run out of cash. 5. Consider a cycling event. Start by choosing an enticing ride and let that inspire your trip planning. On any given weekend, you’ll find dozens of cycling events throughout California. Want to tackle a century (100 miles) in wine country? Attend a mountain biking clinic? Check the event calendars on SoCalCycling.com, Raceplace.com, Active.com, or TourOfCalifornia.bikefor ideas. Avoid packing pitfalls by only bringing items that have an 80 percent minimum chance of being used—but be sure to plan before you pack. "Lay out everything that you think you want to pack on your bed and take a good hard look," suggests Samantha Brown of the Travel Channel. That way you can avoid packing, say, three floral tops when you only need one. "It's only when you lay your entire ensemble in front of you that you see where you've made mistakes and can make the appropriate cuts."
One tip that’s probably been mentioned a lot, but I live by, is this: lots of layering options for the kids reduces the need to pack lots of warm clothes. By layering, it’s easy to modify their level of warmth. Having multiple short sleeve and long sleeve t-shirts are more space-friendly than carrying extra jackets, for example. Little Aussie Travellers
Analysts at CheapAir.com reviewed more than 351 million individual airfares sold on more than a million international routes in 2016. They tracked flights from the day they went on sale (usually about 11 months in advance) until the day of takeoff to see when each fare hit its lowest point. The resulting map shows how many days before takeoff you should buy your ticket to score the best deal, on average, depending on your destination.